S. Kubrick

Stanley Kubrick

Audiences everywhere would agree that Stanley Kubrick's The Shining is a masterpiece. Its striking cinematography, eerie music, but most importantly, the spectacular directing by Kubrick cemented his status as a visionary innovator. He was a genius, yet never felt that he needed to live up to any expectations. He did once say, "Never put me on a pedestal. When someone's on a pedestal, there's no creativity. “And I believe his films reflected that ideology. Each of his films had puzzling endings that he felt never had to be explained; you could interpret them any way you wanted to. His perfectionism was, at times, intimidating, but his attention to details and most of all, imagery, is why his directing set the bar so high for films. He is one of the most respected directors of all time and I feel that not only did Stanley Kubrick pave the way for other directors wanted to capture life the way he did, his films also changed the way many people interpret life today.

From an early age, Stanley was more fascinated with filmmaking and photography than school. Stanley Kubrick was born on July 26, 1928 in Manhattan, New York. He performed poorly academic-wise, but everything changed when his father, Jack, taught him how to play chess. His father hoped it “would stimulate him mentally and spur him on to greater intellectual achievement.” His father was right. Stanley became a skillful player and competed in clubs all around Manhattan and earned money playing. 

On his thirteenth birthday, his father presented him with a Graflex camera, which further stimulated his fascination with photography.  In 1946, he graduated from William Taft High School, but due to low grades, was unsuccessful getting into college.  With the camera his father had gifted him; he set out to the streets of New York City and began his career as a freelance photographer. He sold many of his photographs to Look magazine and everyone with talent. Much of his skills were learned through self-teaching and the hands-on experience he gained working as an apprentice photographer for the magazine.  As the hype surrounding his photos grew stronger, Stanley began setting his sights on filmmaking. And by 1951, Stanley made that dream a reality when he began making short films.

By the early 50s, Stanley was financing many of his short films, including Day of the Flight and Flying Padre. In Day of the Flight, Stanley was notable for using reversing tracking shots which was one of Kubrick’s signature directing styles that he later on used in many of his films. Also, during the filming of all these short films, Stanley served as the director, editor, cameraman, even sound effects man which he later stated served as an “invaluable experience, because being forced to do everything myself I gained a sound and comprehensive grasp of all the technical aspects of filmmaking.” Stanley soon filmed his first feature film called Fear and Desire. Film historian James Naremore noted that Kubrick was “especially interested in how rational, militaristic planning spins out of control and becomes irrational." This theme is later seen in his other films including Paths of Glory, Dr. Strangelove, and Full Metal Jacket.  

His first film that was met with critical and commercial success was Spartacus, which Kubrick wasn’t originally picked to direct in the first place. He replaced director Anthony Mann after a week of filming but consistently budded heads with producer and actor Kirk Douglas. The film was the first and last time when he didn’t have complete control or freedom as a director, so soon after he moved to England and vowed to never allow anyone to stifle his creative freedom. 

In 1962, his dark comedy, Lolita, was his first film that generated controversy due to the films material, which was adapted from Vladimir Nabokov’s novel of the same name. The movie would serve as the beginning of Kubrick’s devotion of adapting novels into screenplays and also choosing risqué material over “safer” ones. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, adapted from the novel Red Alert by Peter George, followed and was first meant to be a serious drama. But as Kubrick, George, and co-writer Terry Southern began developing a script, Kubrick realized that the more and more they wrote, the more he realized the film would work if it was scripted as a satire.  It was a hit and is regarded as one of his many masterpieces. 

Kubrick then turned his sights on a short story by Arthur C. Clarke, called The Sentinel. He spent the next five years developing 2001: A Space Odyssey. Released in 1968, it’s regarded as one of the best sci-fi film ever made and even Steven Spielberg called it “his generation’s big bang.” The film explored the existence of man and the possibility of life beyond Earth. The film’s breathtaking special effect stunned audiences and critics everywhere, and the film was nominated for many Academy Awards. Stanley won his only Oscar for special effects that year.  After 2001, Kubrick continued developing more scripts and after financing for Napoleon, fell through, he began work on a new project, A Clockwork Orange. The novel, by Anthony Burgess, is an exploration of human nature. It follows main character, Alex, whose interests includes classical music and violence. He is later captured by authorities and forcefully entered into rehabilitation for his horrific crime sprees. Just like his film Lolita, A Clockwork Orange was met with controversy due to the graphic nature it depicted. It was said that Kubrick and his family received threats and even had protesters outside their home. Kubrick was forced to withdraw his film from Britain due to many copycat crimes that authorities said where influenced by the film. 

After the controversy died down, Kubrick followed up with Barry Lyndon and The Shining, my personal favorite. The Shining was adapted from t Stephen King novel of the same name. The use of the newly invented Steadicam proved to be effective, with its smooth gliding across the vast, long hallways. It’s eerie music and at times, puzzling story, grasped audiences and left many questions unanswered. Many theories about the film can be seen in the movie Room 237, which explores many of the assumptions towards The Shining. Like many of his films, Kubrick felt that his movies could and should be interpreted in many ways and that the audience should leave the theatre still wondering and yearning for what the film means.  Many stories from the film are legendary today, including that being the perfectionist he was, Kubrick made actress Shelley Duvall, who played Wendy Torrance in the film, had to perform 127 takes of the baseball bat scene until Kubrick was fully satisfied he got it. Kubrick’s The Shining, is regarded as one of the best horror films of all time and one of my inspirations for filmmaking as well. Kubrick then followed up seven years later, with the film Full Metal Jacket. It was an adaptation of Gustav Hasford’s novel The Short-Timers. In an interview with film critic Steven Hall Kubrick stated that his attraction to Gustav Hasford's book was because it was "neither antiwar or pro-war", held "no moral or political position", and was primarily concerned with "the way things are".  The film was nominated for eleven Academy Awards. 

Kubrick’s final film took almost five years to develop. It was conceived after Stanley read Arthur Schnitzler novella Traumnovelle. The film stars Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman as a couple whose home life is rocked when both character’s dark secrets are revealed.  It was met with critical praise and many friends of Kubrick stated that he believed it was his “greatest contribution to the art of cinema.” However on March 7, 1999, he died of a sudden heart attack in his sleep. Kubrick was able to finish edited prior to his death, but he was never able to see the final version of his film that was released to the public.

Of all the contributions Stanley Kubrick was able to achieve, I believe his greatest was establishing a new faith in cinema. Although many believed his films lacked heart, Kubrick understood that by choosing material that at times was unsettling, Stanley showed audiences the raw and biting truth to human emotion. If all of his films would’ve ended in a predictable and optimistic manner, we wouldn’t be regarding him as one of the greatest directors of all time. Many other directors chose safer paths, whereas Stanley chose to leave many questions unanswered and chose a style that differed from everyone. Those long, smooth takes and the attention to the smallest of details proved extraordinarily important to cinema. Even the subject matter he chose to film was forward and beyond his time. Today we can see his work everywhere, especially in other directors’ films. Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Christopher Nolan, Gaspar Noe, James Cameron, Woody Allen, the Coen brothers, and George A. Romero cite Kubrick as inspiration and a forefather of filmmaking. Stanley Kubrick has also influenced a generation of young, ambitious filmmakers; wanting and hoping for a chance to match the success and genius that is Stanley Kubrick. But there will always be just one Stanley Kubrick. He was one man that always demanded perfection, knowing that it would bring out the best in everyone. Many can regard his films as reason to believe than there is no hope for humanity and even fear our existence in the universe. But his films embodied a discreet ray of light that could be seen if you looked persistently enough. As he once said, “However vast the darkness, we must supply our light.” and I believe that’s enough hope for all of us.